Found in the Road Dead

[Ulu]

One of the neighbors was moving out and tossed this little bicycle frame. I didn’t have any interest in it except that it is aluminum & it appears to still be straight.

The fork, bars, and crank are all steel, however. The headset is shot and I didn’t check the bottom. The seat says Schwinn but the frame looks like a Mongoose to me. (But what do I know?)

The welding isn’t bad. (Who am I kidding? I’ll never weld aluminum that well.)

I also picked up this Schwinn bicycle carrier. This was a nice freebie.

I’ll probably pass this along to a friend who doesn’t own a truck. This will go on the back of his RAV.

 

[Ulu]

More bike .....

She’s led a hard life…

 

[Ulu]

I’m gonna go out and strip this thing this morning and see if I wanna make it into the Alumi-krate. I checked it for cracks, but I didn’t check it from the inside yet.

 

[Ulu]

No for real frame checking has taken place yet but I did strip the bike down except for the cups.

Every bit of the hardware is trash except for the cranket self and the small sprocket & the spider. All the hardware was trash except for the 6 bolts on the stem.

The front drop outs are bent. Bottom bracket bearings basically abominable, But with one extra ball?

Head bearings nonexistent. Handlebars are bent. The Seat is cheap junk. Chain usable but short.

So basically what I have is the frame & a handful of junk. The frame has a lot of black spray paint on it so still hard to tell if there are any cracks.

Once I tap out the cups I will hang this up on a string and ring it like a bell, to hear if it sounds cracked.

That test is not always definitive but if you hear something that sounds like a cracked bell, you have problems.

I don’t want to use chemical stripper on aluminum.

Maybe there’s a type you guys use that will work without eating the aluminum?

 

[RustyGold]

I am very curious about this frame...but, it keeps stumping me. Can you make out anything of what appears to be a logo on the rear dropout?

I've convinced myself it was 2hip, FA (Free agent), DB, and more...but keep coming up with nothing. Now it looks like JD to me...but that rings no bells. Could just be a bunch of scratches or paint wrinkles.

It could just be a low model Schwinn XS or an aluminum Predator.

Even the serial number seems super generic...first two digits are '11'?

If it's a quality brand...it's probably from the mid school era. If it's a box store bike, could be any year since.

 

[Indyjps]

I've seen those bars on mongoose before, have a set hanging around. The crankset having actual sprocket bolts versus riveted or single sprocket is interesting, most likely all steel parts, but it could be useful on other builds. The 2 speed sprockets points to some multi speed version, do you see a mount or provision on the rear for derailleur or cable hangers for a shift cable.

V brakes kinda set the general build era.

Alum frame is a plus.

What's the top tube length ? 20" top tube would be about the minimum I'd wanna use on a muscle bike type conversion build, but there's a lot of seating adjustment with a banana seat.

Can't see the fork real well, that big drop also looks mongoose, do these have tapered leg fork?

That era of mongoose usually had "maurice" mongoose logos stamped all over the frame and parts,

 

[Ulu]

I’m afraid it’s not a mongoose. I find that the frame and forks are both stamped with this logo.

Top tube is 19.5” and the overall frame is 36 x 12.5. I see no provisions for a shifter or front derailleur. Just the brakes.

When I disassembled the crank I found that the big sprocket is aluminum and showing some wear, while the small sprocket is steel, Is not worn on the teeth, but has a big groove where it was rubbing against the bearing cup. Bottom bracket bearings are basically bashed. The crank appears to be usable. Cones are ugly.

The fork legs have straight tubes.

 

[Ulu]

I took a good look at the serial numbers and it doesn’t start with 11.

It starts with the Roman letter I (which my font won’t make with serrifs) then a 1.

I’m guessing this is just a cheap Walmart bike.

 

[Captain Awesome]

That is a Trek stamp

I think it's a Trek SubCulture

 

[Ulu]

I checked it over some more and I have not found any cracks or damage to the frame, except that the rear brake studs have damaged spring perches.

The front fork is chrome under the black paint, and unfortunately one of the dropouts is bent.

Maybe this was more expensive than I imagined. Anyhow, it’s damaged so without some rat rod brake work, it’ll fly but it’s not gonna stop.

 

[Ulu]

Ripped and bent.

 

[RustyGold]

That is a Trek stamp

I think it's a Trek SubCulture

Outstanding!

I've never had a Trek...never seen that logo. I got to say, as far as logos go, that one is fairly terrible. Hard to read and not pleasing to the eyeball at all.

There's one for sale on bmxmuseum currently...

...the ones listed in the museum are '96-'98...so, at least I got the era right.

 

[Ulu]

I have never ridden a Trek and I never considered buying one because of their reputation being a boutique machine.

 

[Palepainter]

I had one of these in my collection a few years back. It was a solid rider and held up well.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

I have never ridden a Trek and I never considered buying one because of their reputation being a boutique machine.

I've broken a few Drek frames. Some call them the great trek bicycle making company.

In the Bicycle World, boutique commonly refers to small companies/builders who do their own fabrication.

https://cycling-passion.com/boutique-bicycle-manufacturers/

 

[Ulu]

Well yes, Trek has changed completely over the decades, and now 99.9% of their stuff is made in China and India from what I understand.

I looked at the photo of President Biden lying on the ground, and he was on a Chinese Trek, from what I could tell.

Anyhow, if you go to the Trek shop in Fresno, it is the most tiny boutique place you could imagine. I went there once looking for a tire and a wrench and they were too busy trying to sell overpriced bicycles.

 

[Captain Awesome]

The 2 Trek plants in Wisconsin still churn out plenty. It's just not the cheap stuff

 

[Ulu]

I figured that they’re only making the composite bikes here, and all the robot welding stuff is done overseas.